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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Kids with autism often get multiple meds at once

Many kids with autism are prescribed mood-altering drugs, sometimes
several at once for long periods of time, according to a new study.

So-called psychotropic
drugs include antipsychotics like Haldol and Thorazine as well as
antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications and stimulants like Adderall.
Those drugs alter people's mood or behavior. Many have not been proven effective for treating autism.

"I was surprised at how extensively
psychotropic medications are used in children, even very young children,
and how often children are receiving more than one at a time without
research showing effectiveness or safety of (that practice)," senior
author Dr. Anjali Jain said.
The
drugs are often prescribed for kids feeling anxious, throwing tantrums
or being irritable or aggressive, said Jain. She is a researcher at The
Lewin Group, a health policy research and consulting firm in Falls
Church, Virginia.
Researchers
don't know for sure that the drugs are prescribed too often, she said.
But any use by kids with autism could be too much since no one is
positive the medicines are working, she added.For
their study, Jain and her coauthors looked at insurance data from 2001
to 2009 for more than 33,000 children with autism spectrum disorders.
Of
those, 64 percent had filled a prescription for a mood-altering
medication and 35 percent appeared to be taking drugs from two or more
classes - such as a stimulant and an antidepressant - at the same time.
Fifteen percent filled prescriptions for drugs from three or more
classes at once.
Many kids taking more than one drug at once did so for over a year, the researchers wrote in Pediatrics.
Children
who also had attention-deficit disorders, anxiety, bipolar disorder or
seizures were more likely to be taking mood-altering drugs than those
who only had autism.
Possible
side effects of the medications include headaches, sleeping and
appetite problems and "a Parkinson's-like movement disorder," Jain told
Reuters Health.

"And some of these medications can
themselves cause symptoms like anxiety and agitation that mimic a
psychiatric disorder potentially leading to even more medication use,"
she said.
Since many
children with autism are particularly sensitive to sounds and textures,
they could be sensitive to powerful medications as well. Plus, children
with autism are likely less able to tell adults how drugs make them feel
physically and emotionally.